EvanL
05-31-2004, 06:52 PM
ROBERT AARON STAMPS
SPECIAL TO THE STAR HOBBIES
Canada Post is about to release a new commemorative stamp to mark the 60th anniversary of the invasion of Normandy during World War II.
The stamp, created as a tribute to the memory of all those who fought in the battle of Normandy, will be available starting next Sunday, exactly 60 years after the historic invasion.
On June 6, 1944, more than 15,000 Canadian soldiers landed on Juno Beach as part of a bold operation that marked the beginning of the end of the war. Canadian troops constituted one-fifth of total Allied forces involved.
While D-Day marked the turning point, the war would officially last another 332 days.
In addition to the 15,000 troops landing by water, an additional 450 soldiers parachuted behind the beaches, while 10,000 sailors of the Royal Canadian Navy were standing by in 110 ships of all sizes.
By the end of the day, Canadian casualties numbered more than 1,000, with nearly 400 dead.
The final casualty count was half of what was anticipated but, as historians Jack Granatstein and Desmont Morton noted in Bloody Victory: Canadians And The D-Day Campaign, "a thousand casualties is still a serious disaster, the equivalent of the elimination at a stroke of a good-sized town. D-Day was a triumph, but Canadians had paid for their success in blood."
At the end of the Normandy campaign, more than 5,000 Canadians had given their lives.
The Normandy invasion had been decided upon at the Quebec Conference in August, 1943, with the date set for early June the following year. Planning the attack took almost 10 months.
The commemorative stamp was designed by Derwyn Goodall, based on a painting, "D-Day, The Assault," by Orville Fisher. The painting shown on the stamp hangs in the Canadian War Museum in Ottawa.
Canada did not have photographers documenting the front lines of the war effort, and had to rely upon artists such as Fisher to capture the heroism of our fighting forces. War art documented the Canadian struggle.
Fisher was the only Canadian artist to land at Juno Beach on D-Day. His drawings of the event are some of the grittiest depictions of wartime.
The image reflected in the painting, and on the stamp, depicts Canadians at Juno Beach as they move up the shore. Explosions, smoke and fallen comrades surround the troops as they make their way to the beach, out of the water and on to dry land.
All the elements used in the completed stamp design, from colour to graphic shapes, were inspired by Fisher's remarkable painting.
The idea of triumph overcoming resistance is achieved through the use of colour. An ochre band with "Canada" in white on top is the colour of the beach sand, or the forces' ultimate destination.
A rust-coloured band used as background for the wording was borrowed from the large metal obstacles or "hedgehogs" set up to deter Canadian forces from landing. Blunt, rectangular shapes are used to represent the struggle of the event and the brutal reality of the day.
An effort that would liberate the occupied countries and forge a peace which has endured the last 60 years was not easily won: 11,000 Canadian soldiers buried in France, Belgium, and the Netherlands remain as silent testimonial to the cost of the last world war.
SPECIAL TO THE STAR HOBBIES
Canada Post is about to release a new commemorative stamp to mark the 60th anniversary of the invasion of Normandy during World War II.
The stamp, created as a tribute to the memory of all those who fought in the battle of Normandy, will be available starting next Sunday, exactly 60 years after the historic invasion.
On June 6, 1944, more than 15,000 Canadian soldiers landed on Juno Beach as part of a bold operation that marked the beginning of the end of the war. Canadian troops constituted one-fifth of total Allied forces involved.
While D-Day marked the turning point, the war would officially last another 332 days.
In addition to the 15,000 troops landing by water, an additional 450 soldiers parachuted behind the beaches, while 10,000 sailors of the Royal Canadian Navy were standing by in 110 ships of all sizes.
By the end of the day, Canadian casualties numbered more than 1,000, with nearly 400 dead.
The final casualty count was half of what was anticipated but, as historians Jack Granatstein and Desmont Morton noted in Bloody Victory: Canadians And The D-Day Campaign, "a thousand casualties is still a serious disaster, the equivalent of the elimination at a stroke of a good-sized town. D-Day was a triumph, but Canadians had paid for their success in blood."
At the end of the Normandy campaign, more than 5,000 Canadians had given their lives.
The Normandy invasion had been decided upon at the Quebec Conference in August, 1943, with the date set for early June the following year. Planning the attack took almost 10 months.
The commemorative stamp was designed by Derwyn Goodall, based on a painting, "D-Day, The Assault," by Orville Fisher. The painting shown on the stamp hangs in the Canadian War Museum in Ottawa.
Canada did not have photographers documenting the front lines of the war effort, and had to rely upon artists such as Fisher to capture the heroism of our fighting forces. War art documented the Canadian struggle.
Fisher was the only Canadian artist to land at Juno Beach on D-Day. His drawings of the event are some of the grittiest depictions of wartime.
The image reflected in the painting, and on the stamp, depicts Canadians at Juno Beach as they move up the shore. Explosions, smoke and fallen comrades surround the troops as they make their way to the beach, out of the water and on to dry land.
All the elements used in the completed stamp design, from colour to graphic shapes, were inspired by Fisher's remarkable painting.
The idea of triumph overcoming resistance is achieved through the use of colour. An ochre band with "Canada" in white on top is the colour of the beach sand, or the forces' ultimate destination.
A rust-coloured band used as background for the wording was borrowed from the large metal obstacles or "hedgehogs" set up to deter Canadian forces from landing. Blunt, rectangular shapes are used to represent the struggle of the event and the brutal reality of the day.
An effort that would liberate the occupied countries and forge a peace which has endured the last 60 years was not easily won: 11,000 Canadian soldiers buried in France, Belgium, and the Netherlands remain as silent testimonial to the cost of the last world war.